# Joe Spina

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**Joe Spina** (born September 21, 1946) is a former [politician](/source/Politician) in [Ontario](/source/Ontario), Canada. He was a member of the [Legislative Assembly of Ontario](/source/Legislative_Assembly_of_Ontario) from 1995 to 2003, representing a Brampton-area [riding](/source/Electoral_district_(Canada)) for the [Progressive Conservative Party](/source/Progressive_Conservative_Party_of_Ontario).

## Background

Spina was educated at the [University of Windsor](/source/University_of_Windsor), receiving a [Bachelor of Commerce](/source/Bachelor_of_Commerce) degree in 1975. He was the owner and president of Amplexus Communications from 1981 to 1995 and served as president of the Brampton Board of Trade in 1989–90. He was also a founding chair of the Brampton and Vaughan Santa Claus Parades.

## Politics

Spina was elected to the Ontario legislature in the [provincial election of 1995](/source/1995_Ontario_general_election), defeating incumbent [Liberal](/source/Ontario_Liberal_Party) [Carman McClelland](/source/Carman_McClelland) by just over 5,000 votes in the riding of [Brampton North](/source/Brampton_North_(provincial_electoral_district)).[1] This riding is located in "905 belt", a suburban region which provided the Ontario Tories with their strongest support base in this period.

On two occasions during his first term in office, Spina attracted controversy for making inflammatory comments while [heckling](/source/Heckler) opposition members speaking in the legislature. On November 6, 1996, while [Marilyn Churley](/source/Marilyn_Churley) was speaking about the government's handling of a proposed new school breakfast program, Spina yelled "Why don't you go home and take care of your own kids?",[2] and on November 18, 1996, he yelled at [Gilles Bisson](/source/Gilles_Bisson) to "Speak English!" while Bisson was making a speech in French to mark the tenth anniversary of Ontario's *[French Language Services Act](/source/French_Language_Services_Act_(Ontario))*.[3]

He increased his margin of victory in the [1999 provincial election](/source/1999_Ontario_general_election) in the redistributed riding of [Brampton Centre](/source/Brampton_Centre_(federal_electoral_district)), defeating Liberal candidate Gurjit Grewal by over 10,000 votes.[4] In 2000, he supported [Stockwell Day](/source/Stockwell_Day)'s bid to lead the [Canadian Alliance](/source/Canadian_Alliance) on the second ballot of the new federal party's leadership vote.[5] Spina served as a [backbench](/source/Backbench) supporter in the governments of [Mike Harris](/source/Mike_Harris) and [Ernie Eves](/source/Ernie_Eves). He served as [parliamentary assistant](/source/Parliamentary_assistant) to six cabinet ministers. In 2001, he introduced a private member's bill attempting to increase public awareness of congenital heart defects. He supported [Tony Clement](/source/Tony_Clement), then [Jim Flaherty](/source/Jim_Flaherty) for the party's leadership in 2002.

In the [2003 provincial election](/source/2003_Ontario_general_election), he was defeated by Liberal candidate [Linda Jeffrey](/source/Linda_Jeffrey) by 1,005 votes.[6]

In the [Canadian federal election of 2004](/source/2004_Canadian_federal_election), Spina ran for the [Conservative Party of Canada](/source/Conservative_Party_of_Canada) in the riding of [Vaughan](/source/Vaughan_(federal_electoral_district)) against high-profile [Liberal](/source/Liberal_Party_of_Canada) incumbent [Maurizio Bevilacqua](/source/Maurizio_Bevilacqua). He was defeated, losing to Bevilacqua by almost 20,000 votes.[7]

## References

1. ["Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140423050102/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1995_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=36&rec=0&district=brampton+north&flag=E&layout=G). Elections Ontario. June 8, 1995. Archived from [the original](http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1995_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=36&rec=0&district=brampton+north&flag=E&layout=G) on April 23, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-02.

1. "Debate about school breakfasts difficult to stomach". *[Ottawa Citizen](/source/Ottawa_Citizen)*, November 8, 1996.

1. "Spina comments raise ire again". *[Windsor Star](/source/Windsor_Star)*, November 19, 1996.

1. ["Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141024101624/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1999_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=37&rec=0&district=brampton+centre&flag=E&layout=G). Elections Ontario. June 3, 1999. Archived from [the original](http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1999_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=37&rec=0&district=brampton+centre&flag=E&layout=G) on October 24, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-02.

1. "Spina supports Day". *Regina Leader Post*. June 28, 2000.

1. ["Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141024101823/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=brampton+centre&flag=E&layout=G). Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from [the original](http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=brampton+centre&flag=E&layout=G) on October 24, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-02.

1. "Election results...riding by riding". *The Globe and Mail*. June 29, 2004. p. A14.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joe Spina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Spina) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Spina?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.